Cooking and Politics

Quirrell was sent to Azkaban.

In the end, Voldemort had abandoned him. Before Dumbledore arrived, Voldemort had already left Quirrell's body and fled far away.

What devastated Quirrell most was that there had been nothing at all behind all those layers of obstacles. Dumbledore had never put the Philosopher's Stone in there!

Gemini was not particularly surprised by this. Knowing Dumbledore, if he had not personally stepped in, he would not have felt safe even with a hundred checkpoints surrounding it.

"Shocking! Faced with two trolls and a Three-Headed Dog, this eleven-year-old boy actually did this!"

Two days later, the Daily Prophet published a detailed report on the incident. Its headline was every bit as sensational as those clickbait articles.

Written by Rita Skeeter? Well, that explained it.

That woman's sense of professional ethics was about on par with a clickbait writer's.

'Outstanding achievements, formidable strength, handsome looks, and a mysterious background—this boy bears far too many similarities to You-Know-Who. At the tender age of eleven, he has already accomplished feats many adult wizards could never achieve—

(The entirety of Slytherin follows his every word—according to an unnamed Ravenclaw girl.)

Many have expressed serious concerns over Mr. Fox's leadership qualities and exceptional personal charisma. We do not know whether Dumbledore will once again inadvertently nurture a dangerous individual—'

Smack!

A newspaper was viciously slapped onto the marble bench beside Gemini. Hermione's face was full of indignation. "She's making things up!"

Gemini stroked his chin and glanced over the paper. "Outstanding... formidable... handsome... I think those are all fair assessments."

Hermione: "..."

So he had only noticed the parts where she praised him, had he?

Gemini smiled mildly, unconcerned by Hermione's defense of him.

Leaning back leisurely against the bench, Gemini looked at a small beetle on the wall, propped his chin on his hand, and spoke softly.

"She isn't entirely wrong. Though I have never consciously tried to do anything, Slytherin can indeed be considered my personal domain. If I cough, everyone looks over. Even though I have repeatedly stressed that I do not like that, they seem incapable of taking the hint..."

As he spoke, Gemini looked at Hermione gently. "There is nothing particularly bad about Miss Skeeter's assessment of me. As long as it is not completely baseless slander, I can accept it."

Hermione looked at Gemini worriedly. "But this will have far too great an impact on your reputation..."

"Some people are destined to become powerful, and the strong never care about the opinions of the weak." Gemini smiled carelessly. "For this sharp-tongued scoop reporter to have survived unscathed until now, she cannot have relied solely on petty tricks like flitting about as a little bug. She must also possess a keen sense of danger. She knows exactly what sort of people she can provoke and what sort she cannot."

"Professor Dumbledore is a man of principles and justice, so she can criticize him without restraint. She knows that no matter how unpleasant her words are, Dumbledore will not do anything to her."

"But think about it—would she dare report on Voldemort?" Gemini smiled slyly.

"Although I will not become someone like Voldemort, I will not cling to foolish kindness and muddle through life either. The world is not simply black and white. Bad people do not necessarily die badly, and good people do not necessarily live well. No one lives in absolute purity. Tell me, what sort of person lives the most freely?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then hesitated. "Someone neither good nor bad?"

"Someone with the biggest fist." Gemini laughed at Hermione's Byakugan.

"The people who live most freely are those unconstrained by rules and laws. To achieve that, one either holds power oneself or possesses strength that even power cannot restrain. At that point, power will serve that person. So, in the end, the essence of power is violence."

Gemini spread his hands. "Rita Skeeter made me sound a little too perfect. In truth, I am a rather violent person. Just look at Marcus if you do not believe me. If someone truly angers me, crushing a little bug to death is nothing I would care about."

As soon as he finished speaking, the small beetle on the wall flew away trembling.

Rita Skeeter was no fool. Otherwise, she would never have mastered such an advanced Transfiguration technique as becoming an Animagus.

She had perfected the trick of turning into an inconspicuous beetle to obtain juicy scoops, but from Gemini's words, it was clear that the boy had already seen through her little game.

What Gemini had just said was obviously directed at her.

Gemini had practically pointed at her nose and told her that although he was not a bad person, he was no saint either. If she went too far, Gemini really would kill her...

"By the way, how did you know it was Quirrell?" Hermione suddenly asked. "Harry and Ron had always thought it was..."

"Professor Snape?"

"That's right..."

Gemini smiled and spread his hands. "Their suspicions were not without reason. Anyone could see that he was not a good person, and he was always targeting Harry... But if you could all see it, how could Dumbledore, at over a hundred years old, possibly fail to?"

"Yet even so, he still chose to trust Professor Snape completely. That proves there must be some factor that allows Dumbledore to trust him unconditionally."

Gemini smiled as he raised one finger. "But that factor certainly cannot be shared interests. Relationships maintained through benefits are the least reliable, so I would guess perhaps it is something emotional?"

"Snape?"

"Professor! Professor Snape, or you may call him Mr. Snape," Gemini emphasized. "I will not comment on his character, but without question, he is a very competent professor."

Just as he had said before, Snape might have issues with his character, but his professional qualities as a teacher were still excellent.

And there was one more point: he was loyal to Dumbledore.

"Only an idiot defines others based on personal impressions. I have always relied on facts and evidence." Gemini spread his hands.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He does not target you, so of course you can say that so lightly."

"Marcus targeted me too. Look, I forgave him as well. He was very sincere when he confessed to me last night." Gemini smiled.

Hermione: "..."

You really are a devil...

In truth, Gemini was not very satisfied with the outcome of this incident.

Although Quirrell had been arrested, the Ministry of Magic refused to accept the testimony of Dumbledore and Snape. It firmly insisted that Quirrell was merely a thief with something wrong with his head.

As for Peeves and Snape, who could serve as witnesses, the Ministry's position was that one was not even a proper ghost, while the other bore the stain of having once been a Death Eater. Their testimony could not be trusted.

In short, the Ministry of Magic now held one firm position: it absolutely denied that Voldemort was still clinging to life.

This sort of bury-your-head-in-the-sand political maneuver looked ridiculous and absurd, but Gemini was not surprised. Decades later, even the British Prime Minister would be capable of proposing something like herd immunity. Compared to that, the Ministry's idiots could almost be considered clever. At least they had not caused panic and unrest in the Wizarding World, had they?

Gemini had lived in Britain for so many years that he understood the country fairly well.

It now seemed that there were two things the British were worst at—cooking and politics.